{"id":4215,"date":"2021-04-03T08:36:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-03T08:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/?p=4215"},"modified":"2021-10-11T19:30:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T19:30:24","slug":"hello-in-german","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/hello-in-german\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHello\u201d in German: \u201cHallo!\u201d and Other German Greetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

If I had to guess, I\u2019d say almost everyone who speaks English already knows hallo<\/em> is \u201chello\u201d in German. They sound very similar, and they are one letter off from each other in spelling, it\u2019s hard not to connect the dots. In general, greetings are the most well-known part of any language, because they are always taught first. But \u201challo\u201d is not all there is to German greetings!<\/p>\n

I want to put all the German hey there\u2019<\/em>s, good morning<\/em>\u2019s, and hi guys<\/em>\u2019s, on your radar, so that you can have a varied German greeting lexicon and deliver savvy salutations for every situation.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n

(Photo by Drew Beamer<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Variations on \u201cHello\u201d in German<\/h2>\n

I already mentioned \u201challo\u201d is the default way to say \u201chello\u201d in German, so I\u2019ll try and get more in-depth and find some lesser-known versions of \u201challo\u201d to introduce you to.<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re ever at a loss for how to greet someone remember that \u201challo\u201d is always a great greeting to fall back on because it is the one-to-one equivalent of hello in German, it can be used in all the same situations and with the same frequency as you might use \u201chello\u201d in English. Plus it will be universally understood in any German-speaking region, regardless of any regional greetings that exist there.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hallo, Leute!<\/strong><\/em> (Hello, folks!\/Hello, people!<\/em>) is one variation on \u201challo\u201d in German<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a casual German greeting for use with a group of people you know well. You might use it when meeting up with family for a picnic, or when showing up to hang out with friends, or when arriving at a work meeting with a more casual atmosphere.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hall\u00f6chen<\/strong><\/em> (Hello<\/em> [diminuitive]) is the German \u201chey there!\u201d<\/h3>\n

The suffix at the end of \u201chall\u00f6chen\u201d \u2014 \u201cchen\u201d \u2014 is one of the German suffixes that turns a word into its diminutive, or cuter, form. So \u201chall\u00f6chen\u201d, is the smaller, cuter way to say \u201chello\u201d in German.<\/p>\n

Note: You may have noticed that in adding \u201cchen\u201d to \u201challo\u201d to make \u201chall\u00f6chen\u201d, the vowel sound \u201co\u201d changes into \u201c\u00f6\u201d. This is an exception in terms of diminutives, most of the time the vowel sounds don\u2019t change between the standard form and the diminutive.<\/p>\n

<\/a>In a similar vein, you have tagchen<\/strong><\/em> (G\u2019day\/Hello<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

\u201cTagchen\u201d is the diminutive form of \u201cTag\u201d (day<\/em>) and is an abbreviated and slangy variation of \u201cGuten Tag\u201d (Good day<\/em>), which I will go over in the next section! You may also hear \u201cTag\u201d on its own as a similar informal \u201cgood day\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a>He<\/em>\/Hei<\/em><\/strong> is hey<\/em> and hi<\/em> in German<\/h3>\n

\u201cHei\u201d and \u201che\u201d are ways to say \u201chi\u201d and \u201chey\u201d in German. The spelling of \u201chei\u201d may be a little counterintuitive to people used to reading English, but remember that \u201cei<\/a>\u201d in German makes what in English we would call the \u201cI\u201d sound.<\/p>\n

But confusing spelling aside, \u201che\u201d and \u201chei\u201d can be used like \u201chey\u201d or \u201chi\u201d! It\u2019s a casual, easy-going greeting to use with friends, peers, and other people you\u2019re close with.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: \u201cHei\u201d is actually derived from \u201chi\u201d. There is a significant amount of English or pseudo-English like \u201chei\u201d n that has entered into the German language as \u201cDenglish<\/a>\u201d (Deutsch + English)!<\/p>\n

<\/a>Then there\u2019s the enigmatic na?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cNa?\u201d is difficult to translate, it\u2019s not a one-for-one \u201cwhat\u2019s up\u201d or \u201chey\u201d, but it\u2019s in the same spirit. It\u2019s not often used on its own and instead exists as a preceding particle before a different phrase like \u201cNa? Wie gehts?\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fun, casual, and colloquial greeting, which you\u2019ll probably only ever hear used among close friends. (Sometimes, it\u2019s also not attached to greetings at all and is used as a filler word. For example when answering a question with an air of reluctance someone might say \u201cNa, ja\u201d (Well, yes<\/em>).)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Time of Day Greetings \u2013 Other Ways to Say \u201cHello\u201d in German<\/h2>\n

\u201cGuten Tag\u201d (Good Day<\/em>) is another well-known German phrase among English speakers. However, it\u2019s not the only day-related greeting in German!<\/p>\n

There are phrases for every time of day, but not all of them are for saying \u201chello\u201d in German. Here are all the ones that can be used as a greeting.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Good morning<\/em> in German<\/h3>\n